Twin ball toy with means for adjusting the balls along the length of a cord



LY 3,157,962 F0 DJUSTING THE BALLS ALONG LENGTH A CORD Fil June 11, 1962 Nov. 24, 1964 R. D. BONNEL TOY WITH MEANS TWIN BALL INVENTOR.

RAFAEL D. BONNELLY Armewy United States Patent 3,157,962 TWIN BALL TQY WITH MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE BALLS ALQNG THE LENGTH 0F A (101%) Rafael D. Bonnelly, 105 Haven Ave, New York 32, N.Y. Filed .Iune H, 1962, Ser. No. 2%,396 1 Claim. {Cl 46-52) The present invention relates to the art of toys and particularly concerns a twin ball toy.

In accordance with one form of the present invention, there are provided two plastic captive balls joined by a single cord provided with a stick fastened to the cord intermediate its ends to serve as a handle. In a modified form of the invention, a whistle is carried by one of the balls. A person skilled in playing with the toy can cause the balls to revolve in circular paths in opposite directions while grasping the handle portion thereof.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a twin ball toy wherein the balls are tied to the ends of a flexible cord and means is provided midway the ends of the cord for manipulating the toy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a twin ball toy wherein the balls tied to the ends of a flexible cord are of different dimensions and are adjustable along the reaches of the cord.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a twin ball toy wherein one of the balls is provided with a whistle.

Another object is to provide a twin ball toy in which the balls are adjustably positioned on a knotted cord and can be quickly detached for replacement without disturbing the knots on the cord, since the halls are partially slit in halves.

A further object is to provide a twin ball toy as described wherein the balls are slitted and the slit balls have diametral bores formed with spaced enlargements for engaging spaced knots on the cord.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a twin ball toy embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a twin ball toy embodying a modification of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a twin ball toy It) including a flexible cord l2 formed with a stick 34 secured by a knot 16' intermediate the ends 19, 26 of the cord. The stick serves as a handle. One section or reach it) of the cord from end 19 to the knot 16' is shorter than the other section or reach 2?. from end 20 to knot 16. Knots 24, 26 are provided at the cord ends 19, 20, respectively. The cord sections 18', 22 pass through diametral bores 25, 25 formed in spherical plastic balls 30, 32', respectively. The length of the cord section 18' is shorter than section 22 by at least the diameter of ball 32' on cord section 22'.

In order to use the toy, a player will hold handle 34 in one hand and will hold one of the balls 30' or 32' in the same hand while rapidly revolving the other ball in a clockwise path or in a counterclockwise path as viewed in FIG. 1. Then the player will release the ball held in his hand and by a shake or twist of his Wrist will cause the released ball to rotate in the other one of the paths, in a direction opposite to the direction of revolution of one ball. By skillfully manipulating the cord and tension on the cord reaches the balls can be kept continuously revolving in opposite directions.

Since cord section 18 is shorter than cord section 22', the balls Sit, 32' will not strike each other as they revolve and pass each other in their respective paths. It will be noted that ball 363 is larger than ball 32 and that ball 39 is located at the end of the shorter cord section 18. The toy will be in better kinetic balance with this arrangement of unequal size balls at the ends of unequal size lengths of cord. The larger and heavier ball 30' will travel in a shorter path than the smaller and lighter ball 32'.

In FIGS. 24 is shown another form of the invention wherein toy 10 has loop lid defined by knot 16* intermediate the ends of cord 12 The cord is formed with one series of equally spaced knots 35 in shorter section 18 and a second series of equally spaced knots 36 in longer section 22*. Balls 30 and 32 are of unequal size. Ball 36* on section 13 is larger in diameter than ball 32 on section 22 Both balls are made of flexible plastic material and have curved slits 31, 33 terminating at diametral bores 49 extending parallel to the planes of the slits. The diametral bore id in each ball is provided with equally spaced spherical enlargements or recesses 42 corresponding in spacing to the spacing of knots 35, 36. Each ball can be adjustahly positioned along its cord section by pulling a selected portion of the cord section through the slit 31 or 33 until the cord seats in bore 40 and the knots 35 or 36 seat in the enlargements 42 of the bore. This arrangement permits a ball to be readily detached from the cord for replacement with another of different size. This increases the interest of the game to the player, since he will find that changing the size and/or position of the balls on the cord will require different skillful handling and manipulation to keep the balls under control and rotating oppositely.

In one of the balls, preferably the larger ball 30*, a conventional whistle 46 is mounted. The Whistle 46 has a tubular body 48 with an enlargement 50 for housing a small ball 52. The enlargement seats in a notch 54 formed in the base of the slit 33, and prevents displacement of the whistle. Upon revolving the toy 10 forced air will enter the slit 33 pass through the whistle 4-6 and escape through a radial passage 56 to the outside of the ball. The whistle enhances the entertainment feature of the toy.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and that varioues changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent series of spaced knots formed opposite free ends thereof respectively, and two spherical, flexible plastic balls on said free ends respectively, said balls having diametral bores with spaced enlargements, said free ends of the cord passing through the bores in the balls with the knots on the free ends seated in the enlargements of the bores so that the balls are adjustably positioned on the cord, each ball having a semicircular slit extending in a plane parallel to and terminating at the bore in the ball for inserting the cord into the ball and for removing the cord therefrom, and a knotted loop formed intermediate the ends of the cord for manual grasping While revolving the balls in differently directed circular paths, each of the balls having a different size, said knotted loop dividing the cord into tWo sections of unequal length, the larger one of said balls being engaged on the shorter one of the two sections and the smaller one of the balls being engaged on the longer one of the two sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Long Feb. 9, 1897 Adler Feb. 24, 1920 Carson Apr. 14, 1931 Butterfield Apr. 5, 1938 Lester et al. Apr. 2, 1946 Thompson Nov. 16, 1948 Merninger Sept. 16, 1958 Povinelli et al Oct. 20, 1959 Sirks Nov. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 20, 1934 France Sept. 21, 1955 

